Dancing Through Sunday
by Dreamers Deranged
Summary: -"And if I choose you?"-"You won't be happy."-"And if I choose him?"-"You won't be happy. It's lose/lose no matter who it is, Hime. You have to choose who will help you recover the best."- Discontinued
1. Step 1

**XXX****  
Step One****  
XXX**

The entire room drenched in darkness, save the stage. The stage was illuminated entirely in light. Basking in the brightness of it all were the men and women who seemed almost untouchable. Seeming almost God-like for being able to move the way they did. The women with their twirling skirts and sequined bodice opened in the back the heels of the shoes gliding over the polished wooden floors that reflected everything, faces painted and hair done up, all of it framed perfectly by their partner who was dressed simply but elegant in his own way.

The movement that anyone could learn in all actuality was heightened. The constant motion of spinning in a circular direction around the dance floor was made to look as though not just anyone could move in such a way. The steps, the synchronization, the precision, all of it, sent a clear statement that not just anyone could do what they did.

Lavender tinted orbs drank the image in front of her, ever gliding step making her want to be one of those dancing even more. Her amatuer status wouldn't allow her to be with the rest of them just yet, but if she kept working towards it, kept going forward, pushing herself more into it all, eventually.. eventually..

"Hinata!"

Hinata blinked away from the hanging flat screen and spun her head in the direction of her name being called. She saw Sakura heave a crate-like box of ketchup packets onto the counter and let out a heavy breath.

"The coke's still pouring out the syrup," the pinkette said while grabbing the box cutter from one of the condiment comparments behind the counter. "I asked you to fix it while I grabbed this thing here."

"Sorry," Hinata apologized and went over to the machine, fixing the problem right away. "I was caught up with the TV."

Sakura's eyes briefly glanced up at the monitor hanging some feet away from their front counter. She audibly scoffed at the close up of one dancing couple followed by some sort of narration from the spokesman and went about opening the box.

"Don't see why," she replied. "You know you're better than any of these twits."

Hinata shook her head and lowered it slightly. "Not yet. I still have a long way to go.."

Sakura clicked her tongue against her teeth. "You should take Neji's advice. All you need is to shape that confidence of yours up, and you're good to go."

"I honestly don't think that's all I need."

"What more could you possibly need, Hinata?" Sakura asked. "I mean, you totally have the skills, the motivation, and the determination to go for it. And you can't tell me that it's not true, otherwise they wouldn't have given you the teaching job for the kids."

"I'm not saying that I don't have some talent," Hinata told her. "I'm just saying, that I'm not a professional yet, and nowhere near being able to compete. At least, not like that."

"But Neji said-"

"I know what Neji said and I love my cousin, I do. But I'm kind of worried about him."

"Why?" Sakura's tone was urgent. "Did he get worse? What happened?"

"It's nothing like that," Hinata assured her. "It's just that.. Well, I was talking with TenTen-"

"Oh, well, there's the problem," Sakura took a turn to cut her off. "We all know what she thinks of it all, and talking with her isn't going to help any."

"I'm not taking everything she says seriously," Hinata reassured her friend. "But I would understand if he started overseeing my training because of the accident-"

Sakura put her hand up and Hinata stopped mid sentence.

"Hinata," she began, "do you want to dance?"

Hinata nodded.

"And do you honestly think that Neji would be someone who would live through someone else?"

Hinata mulled the question over. "Well, I suppose when you consider his personality, I'd assume no."

"So then to hell with the girl and what she says! If you ask me, I think she's just afraid of the competition you'd bring her once you get to her level. 'Specially when she knows that Neji's looking over you."

"Sakura, I don't think that's her issue. I mean, she's been in competitions since she was twelve-"

"And that was only because she was dancing with your cousin. You know as well as I do that TenTen's only gotten as far as she has because of her partners."

"She has the ability to be one of those up there," Hinata said, gesturing at the monitor above.

"Which is exactly why she hasn't done anything recently, right?"

"Sakura, that's unkind."

"That's the truth. Why else would you get into the academy before her?"

"That's because her and Neji were being scouted," Hinata reminded her. "And if Neji hadn't been my partner for the audition, I don't know how it would've gone for me. You have to remember Sakura, that if everything would've gone according to plan, TenTen wouldn't have needed the academy."

Sakura sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Look, it doesn't matter. TenTen doesn't matter. The important thing is- Duck!"

Sakura forced the smaller girl down and underneath the counter top. Hinata watched from below as Sakura kept her focus on someone passing, even making some sort of move with her hands once they reached their restaurant and went by, as though asking if they wanted to fight. It was only when the pinkette let her arms fall to her side that she spoke again.

"It's alright," she said to Hinata. "You can come up now."

Hinata crawled out and lifted herself to her feet, dusting her shirt and pants free of any kind of dirt with her hands. She undid her hair and picked it up again, apparently falling out of place after the forceful kind of shove she was given.

"I really wish you would stop that," she told Sakura. "It's been months since then."

"Can't help it," Sakura admitted. "You're the only one that didn't get caught and that was only 'cause they weren't sure if it was you or not. Can't let them know me and Ino were lying."

"It's competely unfair that you guys did that for me. It wasn't as if you were facing any jail time, they caught the ones that were really stealing."

"I know, those evil bastards! Trying to blame what they were taking on us. And anyway, if you forgot, me and Ino were still charged for property damage and assaulting a cop. You just can't walk around the mall anymore."

"Be that as it may, neither one of you got into serious trouble, it wouldn't have made a difference for me, and you were the only one charged with assaulting an officer."

"Serious trouble? Ino still lost her job and the whole thing just added more to my record."

"But you just got community service. How many more hours of that do you have anyway?"

"About twenty."

"Well, that's good."

Sakura laughed. "I can't believe they couldn't pin you. You better take care of that hair of yours. If it was flying everywhere when you were running, they would've gotten your face like us."

"It wasn't just because of my hair," Hinata replied while patting her bun. "If Naruto hadn't taken care of the cameras afterwards, I would've gotten caught since my profile was on tape."

"I wish I had someone who loved me enough like that" the pinkete sight. "Don't know if it would've done anything, but it would still be nice."

"He doesn't love me," Hinata declared while turning pink. "He was just being nice."

"Being nice my foot, the boy likes you dammit."

"I really don't think so.."

"What'd Neji say about that confidence?! Bring it up, girl!"

"I don't think my confidence is the problem, It's just.. I don't know. I actually did think he did like me at the beginning, but if that was true wouldn't he have done something about it now?"

"Well, if you ask me, I think anyone who comes out with a declaration of love right away is probably not all that serious.. except for maybe you. You don't seem to have swayed any since that one day."

"I can't believe I said that," Hinata muttered. "That's so embarrassing..."

"You're not taking it back are you?" questioned Sakura.

Hinata shook her head. "No, I still like him and all, I just mean, I can't believe I said any of that. I must have been really emotional that day.."

"Child, emotional is a complete understatement of what you were like. Trust me."

"The sad thing is that I don't need to trust you, I fully believe it. How embarrassing..."

"Well, look at the bright side," Sakura told her. "At least he was nowhere around when you started crying."

"Who wasn't where when she was crying?"

Working where they did, both Sakura and Hinata had never really paid attention to when customers would approach them while they were engrossed in conversation and more than once being scolded for it. And more than once had Naruto approached them and greeted them with some sort of question relating to the topic they were discussing that he had walked into the middle of. So by this time, it really shouldn't have come to any surprise to either girl, but the small jolt each one gave made it clear that they were still not to used the random drop ins he would give them whenever he was around.

"Warn a person, will you," Sakura told him and shook the surprise away.

"I thought my question was my warning," joked Naruto. "What were you guys talking about anyway? Why were you crying?"

Hinata looked away from him the moment he set his focus on her. "I wasn't.. I wasn't crying. It was just-just something that h-had happened, uh, a long time.. ago."

"We were just talking about the cat story," Sakura covered up. "The whole thing with the family of cats, you know which one."

"Oh, yeah, I know that story," Naruto recalled. "Well look at the bright side, maybe the cats got a good home, there's no reason to cry."

"She wasn't crying about it right now," replied Sakura. "Anyway, you're off I see."

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I just finished," he told her, lifting the suit tucked away in it's covering on the hanger. "What about you guys."

"I'm stuck for closing today," Sakura answered. "The quiet one over there's supposed to get off in an hour."

"Really?" Naruto directed at Hinata with a smile, which faltered after a few moments passed and he still received no reply. "Hinata?"

Sakura looked over to the other girl and immediately discovered the reason why she hadn't made some form of response. The dark-haired girl's eyes were glued to the TV again, becoming oblivious to anything once more. Sakura groaned and snapped her fingers in front of her eyes.

"Pay attention," she reprimanded while Hinata blinked away from the screen and shook away the enchantment.

"What happened?" Hinata asked dumbly.

"You got caught up with watching the TV again," Sakura told her. "Swear, you act like you've never seen anyone dance before."

"That's not why I got caught up in it..." Hinata trailed off.

Naruto looked behind him to see what was on the screen that held her attention. He quickly rounded on the girls after recognizing the form of entertainment.

"That's right, Hinata!" he exclaimed. "I was finally able to get Sasuke to get the DVD of your competition done. I'll have to drop it by later."

"Finally, it was like a month ago," Sakura commented.

"I would've done it myself but he was just being a total ass," explained Naruto. "Telling me that he didn't want me on his computer 'cause I'd do something stupid or something stupid like that. Finally just bugged the hell out of him 'till he freaking made it for me."

"I totally want to see it again," Sakura said, then turned to Hinata. "I want to pinpoint the moment they decided to put you in third and give them hell for it!"

"I know!" Naruto exclaimed. "I was totally like, 'What the hell?', when that happened. You're cousin was giving hell when they said who was first."

"I was too," the pinkette put in. "Could you believe they marked her down because of the dress?! What, just because she didn't have something going up her ass like that other tart was? Well, excuse me if my girl has more class than that."

"I know, right?!" Naruto joined in the bashing. "What was the excuse they gave?"

"Something like, the skirt was too long so that, when they were doing the fast dances her legs looked too slow, or some b.s. like that. Pissed me off."

"You weren't the only one. Remember, someone had to hold Ino back."

"Oh, I know, that girl was going to go crazy on everyone. Freaking Neji had to help block her in with his chair."

"Hell, I was about to go crazy on them. Just completely unfair."

"I don't.. I don't th-think it was just because, because of the dress," Hinata spoke up. "I-I mean, I-I wasn't all that great, and um, I was nervous and uh, w-we didn't get a lot of pr-practice to begin with and uh.."

"Don't you start with excusing those judges," Sakura told her. "You deserved a better score than what you got."

"It doesn't really matter now..."

"Hinata, it does matter," Naruto directed at her. "You did awesome and you should've gotten the credit for it! 'Specially since it was the other people that rammed into you guys."

"Yeah, but Neji blamed that on her partner," Sakura remembered. "Isn't that, right?"

Hinata nodded. "Neji said that he should have been more aware of the direction he was leading us in."

"I still say those judges were paid off," Naruto cut in. "I mean, the other chick cheated when she shot her arm out like that to whack that other girl. You saw that too, didn't you?"

"Look," Hinata said a little more sternly so they would listen to her. "I-I don't know if they were paid off. I don't, I-I don't know if she cheated. And really i-it doesn't matter. It wasn't a big competition, and it wasn't re-related to anything, so.. so.. It's not g-going to effect me."

"Hinata, that's not the point," Naruto tried to get through to her. "You did great and you should've gotten what you deserved."

Sakura concured. "Exactly."

Hinata bowed her head a tad. "Thank you."

"And the check would've helped us too," Sakura decided to note after their discussion seemed to have come to an end.

Hinata looked at her wide-eyed, almost a bit taken aback by what could have been a confession on the real reason she was so put out on the outcome of her first non-academy affiliated competition. Instead of taking it how it sounded, she opted for laughing lightly, knowing well enough that the statement shouldn't be taken too seriously.

"Did you just want her to win because of the money?" Naruto asked the pinkette, which Hinata laughed a little more at.

"It's okay," said Hinata through her smile. "I know what she means. It's just a joke."

"Sorta," Sakura admitted through a smile of her own. "I mean, the check really would have helped us."

Before their conversation was allowed to evolve anymore, the red door that led to the back of the store was ripped open, and a rather unfriendly Karin made her way through.

"Hey!" the read head called out to them. "What do you two think you're doing? You're here to work, not stand around a gossip."

"Hey, I don't gossip." Naruto's statement went unnoticed.

"In case you haven't noticed," Sakura turned to her. "There's kind of no one here, and we kind of already restocked everything, so what's the fricking big deal?"

"You guys can still clean," Karin pointed. "Sweeping, wiping down everything."

"Yeah, we probably could if there was actually anything to sweep or wipe down," Sakura continued to argue. "There kind of isn't a mess because there kind of isn't anyone buying anything. You should know that no one comes by on Mondays, you've been here for God knows how long doing whatever the hell it is you consider work."

"Are you talking back to me?"

"Nah, I'm just, y'know, giving you lip."

"Sakura, please don't start anything," Hinata pleaded.

"You stay out of this," Karin directed at Hinata. "This right now has nothing to do with you."

"You don't have to be mean to her," Naruto piped in. "She's just trying to help calm Sakura down."

"Sir, please, I am discipling my employees," Karin said to him in a more pleasant tone.

"Okay, you're not even the manager," said Sakura. "So by definition, we're not your employees."

"But I'm still in charge, so you're supposed to listen to what I say."

"We're also supposed to follow your example, but if we did that, nothing would ever get done."

"Y'know, I'm getting really tired of you running your mouth off at me," Karin said. "I've been letting it go for the longest time already, but you're getting out of hand. I may not have the power to get rid of you for good, but I still can suspend you."

"You wouldn't suspend me anyway," Sakura countered. "You need at least two people up here, and if I've been running my mouth off for awhile now, then it's because you've gotten lazier."

"Sakura, you promised you wouldn't fight with her," Hinata tried to remind her friend.

"If it were up to me," Karin began. "I'd've gotten rid of you when the whole trouble with the security around here happened."

"Well, it's not up to you," Sakura threw back at her. "And with the way you do things, it never will be up to you."

Karin held her hand up to the other girl. "I don't want to hear another word from you. Not from the rest of the day. You are going to treat me with the respect I deserve as your superior. Understood?"

Sakura opened her mouth to give the girl in front of her some sort of comeback but was stopped before she could begin by Hinata placing her hand on her arm. She looked over at her friend and decided that considering what the end of this week would being and all, she could look over the small tiff with Karin and be the bigger person.

"Fine," Sakura rethought with an exasperated sigh. "I won't say anything more."

"Good." Karin turned to leave and make her way back to the office.

"I freaking hate working with her," Sakura muttered.

"You two always go at it like that, huh?" Naruto said out of the blue.

"Yeah," Sakura attempted to answer quietly. "She's always been a bitch but lately it's gotten out of hand, today's no exception."

"Sakura!" Karin shouted from in front of the red door. It was obvious that she had taken her time getting back to whatever she was doing, most likely wanting to hear if the pinkette would continue with her insubordination. "What did you just say?!"

"I didn't say anything," Sakura denied.

"Yes, you did," Karin accused. "I just heard you."

"I told you she had big ears," Sakura murmured to Hinata.

"That's it," declared Karin. "I'm done with you. You can go home, and you can stay there for the rest of the week."

"You're actually suspending me?" Sakura asked, unable to comprehend.

"Yes, I am. Now get out of here!"

"Don't need to tell me twice," Sakura said while tearing her shirt off, scattering buttons everywhere. "And by the way, you didn't have to suspend me, 'cause I quit." She threw the shirt at her former superior. "'S gonna be my last week anyway."

Sakura pushed against her shoulder as she walked by her, pausing in step and motioning Hinata over as well.

"C'mon, Hinata," Sakura called out to her. "Just quit now, so you don't have to do it later."

Karin turned towards Hinata, a bit stunned to see that she had begun to unbutton her own work shirt.

"Well," Hinata started with her eyes lowered. "I was actually just going to give a week's notice, but since Sakura's not going to be coming back, I don't really want to stay."

Hinata folded her shirt as well as she could while standing and placed in on the counter next to her.

"So I guess, I quit," she continued with a sorry sort of smile.

"Wait up for us," Sakura called out to Naruto before making her way into the back with Hinata in tow.

"I asked you not to start anything anymore," Hinata spoke up once they reached the break room to pick up their things. "You promised."

"I know," said Sakura. "I know. But y'know what, I'm just sick of this place and I guess knowing that I was gonna be free, kind of threw me off."

"You're the one that was saying we could've used the money from the competition," Hinata continued while they made their way through the kitchen and out the door. "The money from the rest of the week could've done some good."

"Do you want to go back and tell her you changed your mind?"

Hinata shook her head. "I do and I don't. I really don't want to keep working if you're not gonna be there. It's what makes it bareable."

Sakura laughed. "C'mon, let's go meet your boy."

Hinata tried her hardest to fight the color that wanted to stain her cheeks. "Stop it, he's not mine."

"Oh, no?" Sakura asked while grabbing Hinata arm and started to lead her through the remaining hallway that led out to the front of the food court. "Then I'll have to fix that."

Sakura yanked the door open and stepped out onto the polished marble, never letting the grip on Hinata's arm go. The two girls walked past the bathrooms and out into the dining area.

"Fox boy," Sakura called out. "Nice, you're still here."

"Didn't you tell me to wait for you guys?" he couldn't help but ask.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Nevermind. Do me a favor." She forced Hinata over to his side, almost making her crash into him. "Make sure she gets home, I got to pick up the car at the garage. 'Kay? Byyye!"

The pinkette strolled away from the pair happily, waving the entire time until she reached the food court doors and headed out.

Naruto looked over towards Hinata, who had not made any kind of sound since Sakura dumped her on him.

"So.. You need a ride home then?" he asked her.

"W-Well.. "Hinata sort of trailed off. "I was gonna take the bus, b-but uh, Sakura, Sakura knew that so... I-I don't know why..."

Hinata sighed and continued to think just how evil her friend was.

"Hey, you want to come over to my place instead?" Naruto offered. "Sasuke didn't work today, so he'll be there, I can get 'im to hand over the DVD. I think he just didn't want me going into his room at all."

Hinata's eyes suddenly lit up and she started to rummage through her bag. "That's right. I-I, I still have Temari's phone. From when, when she left it at th-the apartment."

"You can leave it for her then," Naruto told her and started to persuade her into walking with him. "I don't think she works late today and I know she'll be home 'cause if she doesn't then Gaara does. Oh! I know! We'll make, like, a party! Yeah, Sakura can by after she gets the car and you can call Ino over. And we'll get some of the fans. There's nothing better than a party for no reason!"

He paused mid-ramble and looked over at Hinata again. "You don't have to go to school today, do you?"

Hinata shook her head and smiled softly. "Not today."

"Alright! Then we can have a party!.. You wanna have a party?"

Hinata couldn't help but laugh a little at how his face went from total excitement to awaiting rejection from the way he looked at her. She nodded somewhat and said, "Let's have a-a party."

"Yes! I get to have a party!" His expression then became serious. "We're gonna need to pick up some stuff first. Would it be better to go to a liquor store or an actual store? Well, we can drive around and figure it out."

They made it through the same doors Sakura went through with Naruto going on non-stop about what the two of them should pick up before actually heading over to his shared home. It was somewhere along the lines of Naruto mentioning a "big ass piñata" that she decided to speak up.

"Would we really n-need all that?"

Naruto thought it over. "I guess not... But I still want the big ass piñata."

"Well, then we should a-actually go to a-a store."

It ws the last part of their conversation that Sakura was able to overhear. By that time, the pair were already heading into the parking structure, and getting caught spying on them was something that she wanted to avoid. So, she picked herself up from behind the bush she had crouched behind and decided to head over to the garage since her good deed of the day was done.

Halfway to the bus stop however, she stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and began to franticly search her own bag.

'No, no, no, no, no,' her mind raced. 'I totally asked her this morning!... I think...'

After another five minutes, she felt like crying. She had forgotten to ask Hinata if she could borrow money for bus fare.

**XXX**

Disclaimer: Naruto is the sole property of Masashi Kishimoto and Tv Tokyo. Got that? Damn well better...

A/N: Okay! This is somewhat of a continuation from another fic that I wrote entitled Mall Romance. Now in my honest opinion, you don't have to read that in order to get this fic 'cause really, nothing happened. It's more or less just an overview of how Naruto and Hinata met, but really it doesn't have anything majorly imporant going on it it. But if you want to give a look over, that's fine too.


	2. Step 2

**XXX  
Step 2  
****XXX**

Hinata woke up to the loud whirring of a small motor. She shifted underneath her blankets before sitting up while yawning. She took a few moments to rub her eyes free of any remaining sleep before tossing the sheets over and stepping onto her carpeted floor. Not bothering to look around for her slippers, she crossed over to her door and entered the hallway. By the time she made it pass the bathroom, she could already see Sakura at work with her sewing machine up and running at the table.

"At it already?" she asked playfully.

Sakura took her foot off the pedal and took the pins out of her mouth once the machine stopped running.

"The new Vivienne line came out," Sakura replied urgently. "Stupid.." She paused to growl before returning her focus on the machine. "She took some of my designs!"

Hinata looked at her friend a bit worried. "To be fair, Sakura, I don't think she knows who you are."

"If she doesn't now, then she sure as hell will soon enough!" the pinkette exclaimed. "I will not lose to her!"

Hinata sighed and walked past the table into their kitchen, not bothering to comment that Vivienne Westwood had about a forty year advantage as far as succeeding in the fashion world was concerned, and to be in some sort of one-sided competition with the veteran designer would be rather fruitless.

"Can I get you to try on some stuff?" Sakura called out over the racket she was making.

"Can I eat first?" It wasn't meant sarcastically, Hinata genuinely wanted to know if it was alright if she had her breakfast before playing dress up.

"Yeah," Sakura waved her off to the kitchen. "I got to finish this skirt so it can go with the rest of the outfit anyway, so go ahead."

Hinata turned away from the working girl and went to a cabinet, pulling out a box of cereal before heading to the one next to it for a bowl. Hinata fixed her quick breakfast and exited into the dining area. She had intended to sit at the table, but soon remembered that Sakura had declared it in the name of herself for the time being. With that in mind, she made for the living room and plopped herself on the couch.

"Snap!" Sakura stood up from her seat. "I'm gonna need to use the doll thing for Ino's clothes."

Sakura left the table and made a journey into her own room in search of her standing manican that was made for Ino's measurements. Hinata watched her walk by, clearly amused with it all, and once she was out of sight faced forward, reaching for the remote after another spoonful of soggy flakes was shoved into her mouth.

She clicked the television in front of her on and began to look for something to watch while she ate. Sakura came back out during her channel surfing, carrying a standing man-made torso of a woman which she promptly placed next to the table, taking a break from stitching and started to dress it with completed pieces of clothing.

Hinata had finally decided to give up on early morning day time TV and check what either her or Sakura had recorded during the past week. She scanned the programs before realizing that she had programed the television yesterday to record what she had been watching at work, or ex-work, whichever it was now. She instantly clicked on the play button and fast forward through all of the beginning commercials before the program began.

She continued to eat the remainder of what was left in her bowl as Sakura continued in the constant battle of arranging the clothing in the manner she had fashioned it in. Apparently, she was losing.

"I should've fitted it before, dammit!"

Hinata knew better than to say anything, and instead turned the volume up a bit. Just enough to where Sakura wouldn't notice and throw some sort of fit. She had finished her bowl as the first dance was coming to an end, setting it on the already crowded coffee table to pick up later, and put her entire focus on the dancers.

"_Invited to tonight's event,_" a woman's voice from off-screen (one of the hosts, no doubt) began. "_rising star of the federation, Sai_-"

Hinata jumped at the sound of Sakura's sewing machine going off again, drowning out everything else.

"Sakura!" Hinata yelled over the noise.

Sakura stopped the machine and looked over to her. "Yeah?"

"Could you please let me watch this?" the other girl asked politely. "Pleease?"

Sakura sighed and looked away. "Fine..."

She removed her hands from the cloth she was restitching and left the table with the mess she made behind her. Sakura stood in front of the kitchen, contemplating whether or not she should make some sort of breakfast since she hadn't eaten since she woke up. She walked into the small area and reached into one of the cabinets. Instead of pulling out a cereal box like Hinata had, she brought out a bag of chips and went for a soda in the fridge. Completely satisfied with her choices, she exited the kitchen.

"What're we watching?" she asked while plopping herself on the opposite end of the couch.

"Competition from last night," answered Hinata.

Sakura pulled the tab on the soda can and after putting it on the end table next to her, ripped the bag open. She popped a chip in her mouth and started watching the show.

"Is it just me," she began, "or is that guy really white?"

"No, that's his color," Hinata told her. "Although I've only seen him through a lens, so I'm not too sure."

"You know him?"

Hinata shook her head. "Not personally, but he's in league with the school, so there's tons of photos with him around. Neji knows him."

"Neji would," said Sakura. "Did you bring home any candy from last night?"

"I think there's some in my bag," Hinata replied. "Go through it if you want."

Sakura stood up and sauntered to the front door where Hinata's bag hung next to. She started digging through the satchel and after a few more minutes pulled out two lollipops. With a little cheer, she proceeded back to her seat, unwrapping the sugary goodness as she went.

"What happened to your candy?" Hinata asked her.

"Ate it."

Hinata turned her head towards her, face filled with some sort of surprise. "All of it?"

"I needed sugar to work," Sakura shrugged.

"Sakura, you left with the most candy," Hinata said. "I mean, you had to bring home the entire bottom half of the piñata to carry it all."

"Yeah..." Sakura trailed off then coughed.

They continued to watch the program with little conversation between them. Sakura would ask a question every now and then, and Hinata would answer her as thoroughly as she could to cease any further interruption. Near the halfway point of the competition and somewhere during the individual couples dances, Sakura made a point to speak again.

"He's seems pretty popular," she commented, obviously meaning the male dancer they were speaking of before. "They didn't do as many close-ups as the other couples."

"He's rising through ranks really fast," Hinata responded automatically, so used to answering Sakura back. "A lot of people are watching him, so I'm not really surprised."

"Hm.. What's 'is name?"

"Sai-"

There was a sudden pounding on their front door, cutting off Hinata from finishing her answer. Sakura sighed and stood up from her seat again.

"Ino's here," she stated and moved to open the door.

"Hey!" the blonde girl greeted the moment she was let into the apartment. "Good morning!"

"You're awfully happy today," Sakura said to her. "What's going on?"

"Nothing really with me," Ino said back. "I'm just totally psyched that my two bestest gal pals are finally free from the evil confines that is fast food."

"Yeah," Sakura went on while walking back to her seat. "We're also unemployed."

"Wrong my dear." Ino followed her deeper into their small living space. "You're unemployed, Hinata has a job lined up."

"I was gonna go out searching today," Sakura told her. "I'm want to find something that's more suitable to my talents."

"Shoving people out of the way to catch a falling piñata?"

"I gave some out didn't I?"

"Where'd you put all that candy?" Ino asked her while sitting between her and Hinata.

"She ate it already," Hinata told her.

"No way!" exclaimed Ino. "That was a helluva lot of candy."

"I needed my sugar this morning," Sakura shrugged.

"Anyway," Ino turned to Hinata, not knowing how to continue on with Sakura. "Neji called me last night."

"When?" Hinata asked her. "Or rather, why?"

"It was last night at the party," Ino told her.

"Wasn't really a party," Sakura mentioned. "I mean, it was just us over at their house."

"It was a Monday," Ino directed at her. "I didn't really think anyone was going to come over. Why're you complaining, you got all the candy." She turned back to Hinata. "Anyway, he called somewhere after eleven, since your phone died and Sakura's went to voice mail, I guess he decided to call me."

"Did I not turn it back on after work?" Sakura wondered out loud to herself before getting up again to check on the small machine.

"What'd he say?" questioned Hinata.

"He wants to pick you up today and take you to school for some practice," said Ino. "Said he'd be here before ten. I was gonna tell you, but you guys had already left by the time I came back into the house."

Hinata sighed and stopped the program. "I should get ready then."

She stood up and grabbed her empty bowl from the table, walking over to the kitchen and took a position in front of the sink.

"Sakura!" Ino called out over the sound of running water and taking up Sakura's uneaten lollipop for herself.

"What?!" the other called back.

"Can you give me a ride to work?" she asked.

"Where's your car?" Sakura continued to question her as she came back out into the living room.

"Apparently I got too drunk to drive last night," Ino said as though it were nothing.

"You are a shining example to all children," replied the pinkette in a monotone.

While the two started their early morning bickering, Hinata finished up in the kitchen and started for her room.

"Are you going to leave your stuff out?" she interrupted their argument to ask Sakura.

"Just for now," Sakura waved off. "I'll probably be done by the time you get back."

Hinata nodded and continued into her room, immediately crossing to her closet and pulling out a gym bag and began to pack some of the more necessary items all of which included a spare outfit to practice in as well as a change of shoes.

'I should take something for class,' she thought. 'He's probably upset from when I told him yesterday I couldn't do a training session. It's not like I was goofing off though, it wasn't even that much of a party.'

She groaned slightly and picked up her first outfit with the her shower items, figuring that with the kind of day she would be in for, would probably be the only one she would have until the next day. She made a face, not looking forward to the moment when she would flop on her bed and fall asleep without eating or showering the day away.

"Hinata!" she heard Sakura yell out. "I'm taking Ino to work so if I don't see you when I get back, I'll see you when you get home!"

"Alright then!" Hinata called back to her while reaching for her phone in the charger. "Be careful!"

Hinata briefly heard the front door open and close again while she checked her messages before jumping in the shower. There was a text from Neji, saying everything that Ino had told her momentarily ago, although his message included a reprimanding for being irresponsible. After his was a message from her sister, asking if it would be alright if she stayed with her for a few days.

To that she replied right away, telling Hanabi that it would be fine with her and to help herself in once she was out of school and to tell her the story later. Though knowing her sister, she could probably guess what was going on between her and their father.

After that text there was one from Naruto. She opened it and read it quickly before going back and reading it again slowly.

_Tell neji im srry 4 mking u come ovr last nite (xp) he left me a vry mean mssge last nite bout me mking u skip trining (9.9) awsums thing to wke up 2 in da mrning huh? (x3)_

The message was promptly followed by his signature: _A Bird!A Plane!!A FOXMAN!!DUNUNUNUNUNU_

Hinata still sweat dropped at the mix of both Superman and Batman references, and rather uncreative at that. Not really sure as to how to respond, she sent back a text stating that she was making it up to him early today before going into class. She jumped slightly at the vibration going off on the palm of her hand after not even a minute had gone by. She flipped the phone open and read the reply. The newly received text saying simple statements like "good luck" and "do your best", complete with random emoticons and all.

Hinata laughed lightly at the message, appreciating it for all it was worth. She flipped it close however, choosing not to bother with a reply even though it was evident that Naruto was awake and had his phone nearby. A conversation would've been so easy to start up, and she would be lying if she said she didn't want to.

There was a busy day ahead though, so instead, she placed the device in her bag and made for the bathroom so she could finally get ready for what was to come.

**xx**

On his bed, Naruto still had his phone in his hands, waiting to see if there would be any kind of reply, even if the last message he sent out to her wasn't really one that needed a reply. Still, it wouldn't have been the first time they started a conversation out of pure nothing.

After a few more minutes went by without a word from the girl, he finally let the phone drop from his grasp and rolled over onto his back.

"I wanted to talk to her," he whined. "But I guess she's getting ready already. Nyah! I'm not gonna be able to talk to her at work anymore either."

"Are you talking to yourself... again?"

Naruto lifted the top part of his body to look out his door.

"Wha?"

Sasuke pushed Naruto's bedroom door opened a little more and leaned against the frame, he was already dressed for work.

"I asked if you were talking to yourself again," he repeated.

"And if I was?" Naruto asked, almost in a daring way.

Sasuke shrugged. "Nothing. I always knew you were crazy."

Naruto's eye twitched. "Jackass!"

"Dumbass," Sasuke retorted without so much as an ounce of hesitation.

"Smartas!"

"Fuglyass."

"Stupidass!"

"I win."

Naruto blinked. "What?!"

"Stupidass is the same as dumbass," Sasuke sighed. "I said it first so you lost. Now get ready, or else I'm gonna leave without you."

Downstairs Temari was busy with making herself some breakfast. She had almost dropped the bowl she was mixing ingredients in when an indecipherable yell came from upstairs. She slightly winced at the sound of a door slamming. She out the bowl down and reached for the shelf with every kind of headache reliever available. After grabbing one of the small plastic bottles and a glass of water, she put them to the side and went back to cooking.

'It's too early for this,' she thought with a sigh.

**xx**

Hinata locked the door behind her and started racing for the stairs. She hurried down the step and jogged her way through the front gates of her apartment complex. Already there waiting for her was a familiar black vehicle. She went ahead and walked around to the driver's side and opened the door to the back seat, letting herself in.

"Good morning," she greeted while trying not to sound too cheerful. Once the car door was closed, it pulled away from the curb and started down the boulevard.

"Is it now?" asked the passenger next to her.

Hinata sighed slightly. "Neji, I know you're upset with me for doing something spur of the moment like that-"

"It's not that I'm upset," Neji broker her sentence off. "Well, not entirely. I'm more concerned about your relationship with that boy and his friends. Before, even when you had something planned socially, you would break it off for more practice. Are you starting to give up?"

"No!" Hinata exclaimed and spun in her seat to face him. "I'm not giving up! I wasn't thinking, that's all."

"Are you sure?" Neji turned to look her in the face.

Hinata nodded. "I wasn't thinking. Well, I was, but not the right way. I knew that I should have left when you first called me, but by that time, we had already found out that no one was going to show up and I thought it would be no big deal to skip one day since nothing big was happening. I'm sorry. It was foolish of me."

By the end of her statement, Hinata had bowed her head down and lowered her eyes as well. Neji sighed at the sight of her, thinking that maybe he had been too harsh on her for so early in the morning. Especially since she had done nothing terribly wrong to begin with.

"It's fine," he said at last. "Since you're still determined as ever, it's fine."

Hinata let out a small relieved sigh and relaxed in her seat, leaning back in the upholstery a little bit more. Neji smiled slightly at the actions and faced forward himself.

"So," he began. "Tell me about this party you had last night. I hope I didn't miss anything interesting."

Hinata chuckled at that. "It wasn't really a party, at least not one that I'm sure Naruto would have wanted. He had invited all of their fans over, but I'm sure since it was weekday, and because the majority of them are still in school, no one showed up."

"To be expected."

"Yes, well, I had thought some of the more unruly ones would make an appearance, but it seems that the only ones they could actually get into contact with are those that still live with their parents and actually have phones."

"Go on," he pressed.

"So, um, it was just Ino, Sakura, and myself who were there with them, and in the end we ended up playing a drinking game while watching Lord of the Rings. There was no alcohol, otherwise I wouldn't have played along."

"Good answer."

"Uh, and then we broke open the piñata Naruto had bought. Sakura caught it while it was falling, but she felt kind of bad and gave some to everyone. After that, Temari and Ino went into the hot tub, and everyone else was about to join them, but Sakura and I decided to leave at that time."

"Doesn't sound like much of a party," Neji commented.

'Though I would have liked to have seen Sakura hoard all the candy,' he thought to himself.

Hinata shook her head. "It wasn't, but it was still fun."

"As long as it doesn't interfere with your training today," Neji started. "I'll be fine with it."

"I'm sure it won't," said Hinata. "I wasn't out very late and I had more than enough hours of rest."

"Good, I wouldn't want to wear you out before you head for your classes. Speaking of, are you entirely sure that you need to take a Ballet course?"

"I'm sure it's not needed, but I am sure that because of it, I have been able to dance smoother."

"That is true enough. Alright then, but what about the Tap class?"

Hinata averted her gaze once more. "That I'm not so sure of what I could use for. I suppose it was just because I wanted to." She brought her eyes up to him cautiously. "Is that alright?"

"As long as you remember that you are a ballroom dancer first, it's fine. Keep in mind the upcoming competitions that will get you recognized, and by the end of summer, you will have to give those classes up for the one in January."

Hinata eyes widened. "You don't mean-"

"Why wouldn't I?" he asked her. "Not only as your dance coach, but also as your cousin, I want to see you become a professional. As soon as I find you a decent enough partner that will stay by your side, we'll begin training for that."

Right after he had finished his sentence, Hinata had launched herself at him, engulfing his entire upper body in an embrace. It was about the same time, when their car had pulled alongside a curb once more.

Hinata wore a wide smile. "Thank you."

Neji reached his hand up and patted her head. 'It's the least I could do,' he thought, but never said it aloud.

His door opened, allowing the sunlight in and making Hinata let him go from her embrace. On the other side, Kou stood with a wheelchair.

"That was fast, Kou," Neji said to him while Hinata collected her belongings together.

"And getting faster each day," the other man replied happily.

Neji glanced out the back window. "Though I notice you didn't bother to close the trunk."

To that Kou laughed. "Well.."

"If you bring it closer, I'll help myself in," Neji told him. "Close the trunk."

Hinata had already exited out of her side of the car throughout the small duration and made it around onto the sidewalk. She stood patiently waiting for Neji to prepare himself before walking into the building behind her. Once Neji was seated and they both bid their goodbyes to Mou, he wheeled around and started for the entrance. Hinata walked ahead of him to open the door and followed in after him.

"I've asked Cecil to remain as your practice partner only," Neji informed her as they made their way through the lobby. "He won't be a commited partner to you any longer and once a new one is found, he will be able to go about his own way again. Seeing as how with someone new, you'll be dancing with each other for everything."

"That seems unfair, doesn't it?" Hinata asked.

"He already agreed to it and doesn't find it offensive in any way, so there's no need to trouble yourself over it."

"I understand," she continued as they stopped in front of the elevator doors. "It's just, I've known him since the beginning. We started together."

"But you won't be finishing together," Neji started in as soon as she was done while pressing the "Up" button on the side of the door. "I know your closeness with him, but when we spoke with one another, even he agreed that he has gone as far as he could. For your progression, he's relinquished his position by your side."

The doors opened and Hinata waited for Neji to position himself inside before she stepped within the space.

"I know you wanted to stay with him," said Neji.

"I understand," Hinata replied. "I just wish there was something I could do for him."

"Do your best."

Hinata turned in his direction and smiled softly. The elevator doors opened and Neji exited before she did. The two of them turned in the direction of the Dance wing and towards the empty studios left for those who wanted to practice more. Neji went into the first one available and Hinata followed after.

"And Cecil?" Hinata asked, puting her bag down by the mirror.

"He won't be here until later," he said. "Until then, we'll be doing solitary exercises to prepare yourself individually, one dance at a time."

"Which do we begin with?"

"Vienna."

Hinata nodded and walked to the center of the room, turning to face him so that she could receive direction. She raised her arms as though holding onto another person when he commanded her to frame. She straightened her posture even more when he told her to take a stronger stance. She began to move at his count and almost tripped when he shouted for her to stop.

"Position yourself again!" he ordered.

'And the day's only started,' she thought to herself and positioned herself again.

**XXX**

A/N: My long term fics are always slow in the beginning. Gah, I always anticipate the middle. It's more fun to write. Anyway, I kind of want to post on Saturday instead of Monday. It might conflict with the other fic I'm writing, but I just like posting at the end of the week better than at the beginning. For some reason, I feel like everything updated on the weeked gets more noticed. Since it's the weekend and no one really has to do anything, so it's okay to stay up late reading fanfiction (like me for example xp). I think I'll post on Saturday, I'll run it by my sister, though she'll probably want me to stick to Monday. Well, we'll see.


	3. Step 3

**XXX****  
Step 3****  
XXX**

Hinata walked up the stairs and rummaged through her bag for her keys. It was past four in the afternoon already, well going into dinner time and she wanted to get out of her outfit and into a hot shower before preparing anything.

'Hopefully,' she began to think, 'Sakura isn't already doing that if she's home already.'

She pulled her house key away from the others to ready herself so that she wouldn't have to stand outside the door for very long. However, coming up to the front door of the apartment, she could hear music coming from inside and rather loudly at that.

'Guess she is home,' she thought and tried the knob, turning it all the way the moment she realized it was opened.

The second the door was opened, the muffled sound of the music turned blaring. Hinata even dropped her keys so she could cover her ears. She marched into the living room and shut the radio off, then turned to close the door after retrieving her keys from the floor.

"Sakura!" she called out and walked to the back of the apartment. "Saku-ra!"

Hinata was about to call out again to ask where she was when the bathroom door opened. From the depths of the room emerged a trail of steam followed by her sister, dressed only in a pair of sweat pants and a bra while towel drying her a hair a little.

"Nope," said Hanabi. "It's me."

She removed the towel from her head and slung it over her shoulder, shaking her hair back from the front of her face. She walked into Hinata's room, the older girl trailing in after her automatically.

"So how'd it go with Neji?" the younger questioned.

"He wanted to go over certain steps after my Ballet class," Hinata answered and tossed her bag near the bed, taking a moment to sit and remove the heels she had been dancing in last. "My feet hurt a little, but he was easier on me today. I think he's forgiven me for Monday."

"About damn time," Hanabi replied while crouching next to her suitcase, going through it. "It's been forever since then."

"It's only been three days," Hinata sweat dropped.

"It's still a long time to hold something as stupid as that over you." She stood up and crossed to Hinata's closet. "I'm gonna borrow a shirt... and maybe a skirt... and some leggings... and your boots. Do you know if Sakura took that one leather jacket of hers that I like?"

"Uh, are you going out?" asked Hinata.

"Yeah." Hanabi started to filter through the hanging clothes. "I"m gonna meet Lia and Marc at the corner store and we're gonna take off to a show in Anaheim from there."

"Uh huh..." Hinata watched her sister pull out clothes and hold them against herself, then trailed her eyes to the opened suitcase on the floor, and finally to the random items (blow dryer, straightener, curler, crimper, make-up, etc.) that had been set up neatly across the desk and dresser.

"Um..." Hinata paused before continuing. "How long do youp lan on staying here? Exactly?"

Hanabi paused in her actions and turned to face her sister. "Do you not want me here anymore?"

Hinata raised her hands up and shook her head. "No, no, no," she denied. "That's not it. I was just asking to know when you'd be here and not freak out if I suddenly find you gone. And by the way, you really should lock yourself in when you're here alone."

"You and Sakura don't," Hanabi argued. "And don't use your age as an excuse 'cause some random stranger would waltz right in and do damage to either of you just as well. Where's that fishnet shirt? I want to wear it under this one."

She held up Hinata's white Lolita top with the black ribbon and lace.

"Check the drawer with the arm warmers."

Hanabi turned to the dresser and opened the first drawer, finding the top in the back along with a pair of worn out baby blue gloves with the fingers cut off that she decided to pull out as well.

"Anyway," Hanabi continued and opened the drawer filled with leggings and other undergarments. "I don't really know how long. I didn't really pack that much clothes, but I was hoping to stay for two weeks at the most."

Hinata was dumbfounded. "Is it really that bad at home?"

"Hn... No. I guess not, really. It's just being that last one in that last one in that house really bites. And I'm sick of dad pushing things on me about "my future". And God forbid I utter the work "model", 'cause that'll start with his "Where did I go wrong?" and "I raised nothing but a bunch of dreamers" or "Why am I the only one in this family with a stable job?"."

She paused to sigh. "I just needed to get away. Just for a little while, 'cause we're gonna be at each other all summer. I just know he's gonna give me hell the times I want to go out."

Hinata took in everything her sister told her while watching her pull the mesh fabric over her head and adjust it to her body before pulling the other top on."Does he really say all that?" she had to ask.

Hanabi looked at her seriously before rolling her eyes and nodded.

"Hm..." Hinata pushed herself off the bed and walked over to her sister, plucking the towel from the floor where she had let it fall. "Well, you can stay as long as you want, I don't really mind. I'm sure Sakura doesn't care either. But you're going to have to get some more of your clothes."

"Fine," Hanabi agreed. She closed the drawer and headed for the door. "I'm gonna borrow some of Sakura's pants instead."

Hinata's head drooped and wondered if the whole getting some of your own clothes statement got through to Hanabi. "I'm going to take a shower," she announced. "So I'll be out in a bit."

Hanabi made a small noise to acknowledge the words said to her and left the room. Hinata went ahead and walked through the door that led from her bedroom to the room with the sink (Neither her or Sakura knew what to call it, since it was apart from the shower and the toilet, they weren't entirely sure if it was part of the bathroom.) that had another door connecting it to the bathroom. Hinata closed the door to her room, but left the other opened. And after turning the water on and undressing, heard the music from the radio again, louger this time around. She was going to shout to Hanabi about shutting it off, but just decided to let it go... for now.

**xx**

Going down the upper-story walkway, Naruto could hear music blaring. Though it was fairly faint, the fact that he could almost make it out was something in itself. The closer he got to Hinata and Sakura's apartment, the louder the music became, making it clear where it was coming from. He paused outside the door, and was about to knock, but figured that if the music was so loud that he could almost hear it while walking to the stairs, the occupants wouldn't hear it anyway.

'What the hell?' he asked himself and turned the knob to let himself in, already knowing that neither Sakura nor Hinata locked it unless they were leaving the complex.

"Hello?!" he shouted over the noise and closed the door behind him.

He walked to the stereo in the living room and turned the volume down. Once that was taken care of, he could hear from the back of the apartment the sound of a hairdryer going. Without a moment's ounce of hesitation, he went to investigate, noticing right away that it was coming from Hinata's bedroom. He mainly figured it out because the door was half open.

Grinning mischeviously, he crept through the door and spotted a dark-haired female form with her head thrown forward, brush in one hand and blow dryer in the other in front of the mirror hanging above a small dresser. Naruto tip-toed towards her and once he was close enough, squeezed her sides.

One shrill cry and a blow dryer to the side of his head later, Naruto found himself on his side looking up at a fierce looking young girl, who

looked similar to Hinata, but was clearly not her at all.

"You're not Hinata," he stated dumbly.

The door leading into the sink room from Hinata's bedroom burst open, revealing Hinata looking frantic while dripping wet and wearing only a towel.

"What happened?!" she cried, still unaware of the male presence nearby.

Naruto stayed still, helplessly fixated on her form with wide eyes. He couldn't look away even if he had wanted to. His breath hitched the moment his gaze landed on her exposed cleavage, only snapping out of his stupor when Hinata finally realized he was in the room and cried out while trying to cover herself more to the bet of her abilities.

Naruto blinked and blushed, scrambling to get out of the room as fast as he could. He was kicked the rest of the way out by the other girl in the room by the time he reached to door that was instantly slammed shut the moment he was out.

It took him a few minutes to calm himself down and shout, "Sorry!"

**xx**

The only sound in the apartment now was that of Hinata's knife slicing through vegetables and then the small thud it the metal object made when coming into contact with the wood of the cutting board underneath it. Her hair was still damp and the prior trauma she had been through just recently caused her to dress herself in two sweaters, leggings, pants, and socks. She would have put on some leg warmers as well, but that was where Hanabi had told her to get a hold of herself.

Even with all of the clothing she wore, she still felt exposed somehow, leaving a permanent blush on her cheeks while she prepared dinner. Hinata paused breifly to look out into the dining area to see how the other two in the small homestead were doing.

Hanabi sat in a chair opposite of Naruto, arms crossed in front of her chest, staring at him intently with a frown on her face. Naruto attempted to make light of her focused gaze on him by looking in other directions, but never settling on one. The moment he caught Hinata's eye, he turned his head forward sharply and met with Hanabi again.

Feeling a little dejected, Naruto seemed to have come to the conlcusion that there was enough silence for the day.

"So," he started out cautiously. "Hanabi, right?"

Hanabi continued to glower at him.

"Heh," the blonde continued. "I've heard some things about you from your sister."

Still, she said nothing.

"Eh heh..." Naruto decided to keep going at it despite what he was receiving. "You're still in school, right?"

Hanabi's pointed look didn't change.

"Hinata said that you guys were like, five years apart, so that would make you fifteen?"

Still nothing.

"Awesome age to be, huh? I remember this one time-"

"Hinata," Hanabi finally spoke, not even taking into account that she had iterrupted the individual across from her.

Hinata stopped the knife's movement and turned her head towards her sister. "Yeah?"

"The pervert's trying to talk to me," she stated.

"I'm not a pervert!" exclaimed Naruto. "I said I was sorry!"

"Yeah," Hanabi replied. "But sorry for what? You didn't say that part. Are you sorry for breaking into a single woman's home? For groping her little sister? For not getting a better view of her naked?"

Both Hinata and Naruto blushed ferociously.

"It's not like I wanted to in the first place!" he cried over the table top.

Hinata couldn't help but feel a little dejected after hearing such a statement. She knew that she wasn't a legendary beauty of any sort, but she never really thought of herself as unattractive. Was she really not worth looking over? The question burned itself into her mind.

Naruto seemed to have picked up on what she was thinking or at least somewhere along the lines, because the next thing she heard was him trying to redeem his last words.

"I mean," he went on, "It's not that Hinata doesn't have an awesome body or anything like that, I just, I wouldn't try to see her naked without.. without, without like any kind of.. permission."

Hanabi looked at him oddly. "You would actually ask for permission?" She sort of chuckled. "Have you?"

Naruto flushed again. "No! That'd just be weird!"

"So you do peep in secret," Hanabi conluded.

"No I don't!"

"Well, which is it?!"

"It's neither!"

Hinata decided that it was best to intercede the growing argument. "Hanabi, just leave him alone already. It was an accident."

Hanabi snorted. "Accident my-"

"Watch your language," the older reprimanded the younger before she was even able to utter the word.

The three went back to being quiet, the only noise in the room once more was the sound of Hinata finishing with the prep work for their infamous "pasta night". It was when she was just about finished with slicing the necessary items for a sauce that Hanabi had decided to break silence this time around.

"So," she started. "Closet pervert."

Naruto glared at her.

Hinata decided to tune out of the conversation. She felt nothing odd about Hanabi's tone, finding it to be somewhat mocking compared to the argumental one she carried earlier. She could safely assume that their following conversation would have nothing but random names thrown back and forth at each other.

'It's easier to focus like this anyway,' she admitted to herself.

Hinata went through the familiar motions of making a tomato sauce while putting a pot of water on the stove to cook the pasta itself, raiding the cupboards for any random noodles at their convenience, and then taking other vegetables out to mix with the cut up left overs that weren't used to make some sort of salad.

It was when she went for the salad bowl itself that she found herself in some sort of trouble. It was in one of the cupboards above the counter, on the high shelf, the shelf she couldn't reach. Sakura would always get it for her, even if she was only two or three inches taller than Hinata herself, the girl had long arms.

Hinata really didn't want to have to climb onto the counter to get the object (How unsanitary! Feet where food is placed?!). She opened the bottom cupboard below the counter and then widened the one above. She wedged a foot between soda boxes and tip-toed even higher with her arms reaching out.

She faintly heard a "She's gonna hurt herself" from someone else, but paid no real attention to it. She solely focused on the task at hand.

The tips of her fingers grazed the side of the glass bowl, not even close to the outer rim of it, when another set of hands pulled it out of it's place and right over her.

"Why didn't you just ask for help?"

Naruto's voice was directly behind her, he was so close that she actually heard that small vibration that goes off in a person's throat when they speak. Knowing this, she made no move to turn around.

"I-I.. I could've gotten it myself," she said quietly. "I almost had it.."

"Not even close," Naruto said with a grin and stepped away. "Your sister was right, you looked like you were going to hurt yourself."

Hinata turned slowly towards him, eyes kept down casted, her cheeks slightly colored from him being so close to her. She reached out and grabbed the glass bowl from his hands and muttered a quiet "Thank you" before placing the dish on the opposing counter.

"Do you need any help?" the blonde asked her.

Hinata shook her head. "You really don't have to."

"But I want to," he argued. "C'mon, let me help."

Hinata bit her lip, not really needing any help, but not wanting to deprive him of something that he wanted to do. Then there was the thought of it being rude to have a guest help in the kitchen, but was dismissed quietly when she recalled once more that he _wanted_ to help.

"Okay," she sighed. "You can.. You can sift through the, um, the pasta n-noodles."

Naruto tilted his head to the left. "Sift?"

Hinata gave him a curt nod. "It's, um, it's like.. Okay, what you'll need to do is, uh, pour the pasta into a big bowl, and just kinda.. make-make sure there's no bugs in it. They're like, like, uh.. little black bugs that start to form when the pasta's gone-gone bad."

"But the expiration date isn't for awhile," he pointed out after inspecting the blue box filled with bow-tie shaped pasta noodles.

"Yes, well," she continued to explain, "but even though it-it's still.. safer to check. Sometimes, the little bugs, they'll start to come out.. before.. the expiration date."

From the table, Hanabi observed the pair with some sort of interest. Watching them go back and forth threw the motions of hand washing and going through ingredients for quality. It didn't take her long to realize that this was the same guy that Sakura was talking to her about. Of course at first she had blamed the blushing and stammering on the fact that he had walked in on her in nothing but a towel, but even through all that, she was still able to understand that her sister did very much like the boy.

'Dammit, Hina,' she thought to herself. 'Why'd you fall for a pervert? Now I'm gonna have to make sure that he falls for you and not just your chest.'

"But I already washed my hands," Naruto complained.

"But now we're making the sauce," Hinata told him, her nervousness clearly not getting in the way of maintaining a clean cooking enviroment. "Working in the kitchen requires constant hand washing. So wash them."

Hanabi smirked at the sight of a grumbling Naruto being forced to the sink for the second time. It grew even bigger when Hinata handed him the spare apron kept in the small corner pantry.

'Maybe I won't have to worry,' Hanabi went on in her mind, watching Naruto put the kitchen attire on with his tongue sticking out the entire time at her sister. She stood up from her seat. 'Just in case, I'm gonna send Ino up here to keep an eye on things.'

"I'm gonna take off," Hanabi announced.

Hinata turned to face her sister, walking towards her a bit. "Already? You won't stay for something to eat."

"Nah," the younger replied while shaking her head. "I'll get something on the way, and if not, I'll eat left overs." She sauntered to the couch where her own jacket and bad was. She shrugged the coat on and looped her arm through the bag's strap. "I'm gonna go down to Ino's apartment so she can do my make-up, I'll leave the complex from there. I'll send her up, yeah?"

"Okay then," said Hinata. "You have your key? And your phone? Send me a message when you get there okay? And try to come home to late. I'll leave food for you in the microwave. Oh, and-"

"Oi, I get it," Hanabi assured. "I'll most likely be back before midnight." She made for the door. "I have the spare key, my battery's charged, I'll send a text when we get to the concert, I have cash, and I know where to kick for both genders. I'm good to go, I'll see ya later."

"Be careful," was all Hinata was able to say before the door closed and her sister was gone.

"She was eager to leave," Naruto commented.

"She always has been," Hinata laughed to herself. "She's very restless. It's not necessarily a good thing."

Hinata then realized that she was alone with Naruto once again. She forced herself to fight back her nerves, if just for a little while, and moved back to her original position in front of the blender.

"I can do that," Naurto told her. "You can do the salad instead. I hate it."

Hinata nodded and they switched places.

"I'm wearing an apron," Naruto stated. "God knows I want to ruin it, so this better splatter on me at least once."

"Please don't splatter the kitchen," Hinata said. "I'd rather not clean that up... If you don't m-mind."

"Nah, I wouldn't make you clean up my mess, though I'm pretty damn sure you'd do a better job," he laughed. "I'm not someone that's up for being domesticated. I'd probably fail as a house cat."

Hinata smiled alongside him, though for a different reason. 'I wonder if this is how it would be if we were married,' she pondered. 'Would we make meals together side by side all the time? Or would I cook and he offer to clean? Sometimes vice versa? What would talk about? By that point, I'm pretty sure we would know everything about each other. We'd probably be living in an apartment if it's just the two of us. Maybe talk about some day owning a home, raising a family.. How many children would we have? I wouldn't really mind having as many as he wanted.. Oh, but that would be hard on my career..'

"Hinata," Naruto called out to her, apparently he had been trying to grab her attention for a few seconds. "Heeellooo?" He waved his hand in front of her face and she was brought back to reality.

"Uh.. I'm sorry," she apologized. "I just kind of.. went off in my head?"

"Did I bore you?" Naruto asked her.

Hinata shook her head. "No. It-it's not like that. I just um, starting thinking about things that uh, well.. I'm just getting ahead of myself."

"You're kinda weird, ya know."

"I know," Hinata sweat dropped.

"Not that it's a bad thing," Naruto assured her. "But anyway, what do I do now? I got it all not lumpy like you said." He turned and half bowed to her with his arms out in front of him. "Teach me, oh-wise-chef."

Hinata hid her smile behind her hands, but let her laugh out into the world. "Okay, we'll go step-by-step."

She went through the recipe one step at a time, going slow so that he understood what he would be doing. After she had drained the pasta pot and left it on the stove top, she joined next to him and they worked together. When the meal was finally completed, Ino had made an appearance with the french loaf she promised to pick up on her way home from work. When Sakura finally arrived, dinner was then declared to be served, but not before the blonde girl and pinkette bullied Naruto into staying and forcing him into the seat next to Hinata's.

Hinata looked at her two friends accusingly, and unsurprisingly enough, neither one of them bothered to deny any kind of accusation to her, simply waving whatever look she gave them off. Not that she was unhappy with Naruto staying, but for the rather brash way of them trying to pair him and her up. Before they at least kept some sort of secrecy, but now it seemed they just didn't care who it was obvious to.

In the end, Hinata tried to relax herself. It would be awhile though before she finally stopped keeping her movements and words in check so that she wouldn't fall into another trap of Ino and Sakura's plans to have her hook up with the male next to her. And when she did, Hinata decided that she'd take whatever they threw at her and do her best with it to not make anyone seem completely foolish. One step at a time.

**XXX**

A/N:The chapter's late I know, but I got a pass from teacher, so it's all good as far as I'm concerned. I admit, the new consitent changes in my work schedule didn't help, but neither did my two entire days of doing nothing but reading fanfictions and doujin scans. (T.T) Sorry... But yeah, anyway, gah! I played a cooking card (DX). That's like playing the Nnoitra card. Lol. Clearing up something, I'm putting the setting in LA, just 'cause.. well, it's where I am and I know the area.. for the most part.. I grew up in the OC (the ghetto part, but there none the less) so I know that a lot better, but I unno, made sense to me at the time. Maybe it's this whole stereotype that is LA.. Is it still a stereotype? I mean, who still believes the whole City of Angels crap?


	4. Back Step 1

**XXX****  
Back Step One****  
XXX**

_"You're cousin's living with you again?"_

_Hinata looked up from the magazine she was reading while laying on her stomach on top of Sakura's bed. She made some eye-contact with the pinkette to show her that she was paying attention before going back to reading an article._

_"Uh huh," she answered. "For a few months this time... I think."_

_Sakura looked away from Hinata after receiving a reply, choosing to focus on dismantling a pair of pants and meshing them with other fabrics to make something new while conversing. Besides, with her sitting on the floor with her back pressed up against the bed in front of the dark haired teen, it was hard to face her without moving her entire body._

_"You think?" Sakura continued to question._

_"I don't really know how long he's staying," Hinata confessed. "It's always just until my uncle gets back from wherever he's digging up."_

_"Such is the life for a child of a treasure hunter," Sakura joked._

_"Neji doesn't seem to mind," Hinata told her. "He said as long is doesn't interfere with his dancing, he's fine with it."_

_"You're cousin's kinda weird, ya know that?" Sakura asked her while putting down a pair of scissors and began to search for a needle and thread. "I mean, don'tcha think any normal kid would be pissed that their parent's always gone?"_

_"Oh," Hinata laughed. "I thought you were going to say something about the dancing."_

_"Well, that too. I mean, I'm not really used to seeing a fourteen year-old boy striving to be a ballroom dancer. Not saying anything bad about that or anything."_

_"No, I got you," said Hinata. "Though I have to say, we must be in the dark about the whole thing. 'Cause the competition that my uncle took me to where Neji was in it, There was a lot of them. Younger even."_

_"I forgot to ask you about that," Sakura began while trying to thread the needle "What happened with that? Did he win."_

_Hinata sighed. "Nope. Him and TenTen got second. She was a little angry."_

_"I don't like her," Sakura stated while throwing the needle down. "To hell with you, you sharp pointy thing that I probably shouldn't have thrown like that 'cause now I don't know where you are..."_

_"You should've treated it better," Hinata giggled._

_"Whatever," Sakura growled slightly and clamboured onto the bed. "Just watch where you step when you get off."  
_

_Hinata nodded and sat up as to make more room. "Anyway, Sakura, you should've gone with me, it was so fun!"_

_"I really don't think I would've liked it as much," Sakura told her._

_"But you should've seen it!" Hinata exclaimed, even using her hands to emphasize. "It was like, like.. like a fairy tale come to life! The way they all danced! The movement, the grace, it was like, I don't know, they were worlds above everyone else."_

_"You look like Neji right now," Sakura laughed. "Like you're determined to prove something."_

_"Do I?" Hinata laughed as well. "But it was really something. I don't know, it made me feel small almost. Like I didn't even deserve to be there."_

_"You think to little of yourself, ya know that? I'd bet anything that you'd be better than any of those stuffed shirts there."_

_"You really think so?"_

_"Cheh, I know so." Sakura stretched her legs out. "Trust me, Hina, there's like no way you wouldn't be an awesome dancer."_

_Sakura tiltled her head in the other girl's direction. "Do you want to?"_

_Hinata blushed and looked away. "No..."_

_Sakura broke out into a smile. "You want to, don't you?"_

_Hinata shrugged. "Sort of."_

_"You should totally go for it," Sakura told her. "Even if you don't want to take it as far as your cousin, you can still take classes and stuff at the community center. They have those program things."_

_"I think that's what I want to do," she replied. "Just kind of like a hobby thing."_

_"I still say go for it," Sakura repeated. "You'd make on helluva dancer."_

_"Thanks." Hinata smiled. "You know, you should go into making clothes. You tear apart a lot of what you buy anything."_

_"Nah," the pinkette said. "I can turn pants into skirts and shirts into vests, but I can't make make clothes. I'll stick to what I know."_

_"It's just wasting money though isn't it?"_

_"Well if they would frickin' come out with clothes that I liked, I wouldn't have a problem."_

_"Like I said, you should just make your own," Hinata said once more._

_"I"ll make it my High School resolution," Sakura responded sarcastically._

_"Are you doing that?" Hinata asked._

_"No," snorted the pinkette. "I never liked Kaya as a person, why the frick am I gonna like any of her ideas? Class president bull crap, stupid hoe, I hate her. She took the whole eighth grade president thing too far. Ugh, her graduation speech."_

_"Even I admit, it was pretty... over the top."_

_"You're still putting it lightly. Whatever, don't have to deal with her reign of terror anymore. New year, new school, new set of rules." Sakura looked over at Hinata. "You sure you don't want to dye your hair?"_

_"Your hair is plenty for the both of us," Hinata assured her._

_Sakura shook her head and laughed. "Suit yourself."_

_"You know," Hinata said after a moment of silence went between them. "There's also a class you could take to make your own stuff at the Center. Why don't you do that?"_

_"Hm... It wouldn't be so bad I guess. I'ma hafta invest in a sewing machine. No way in hell am I sewing everything together by hand."_

_"Let's go to the swapmeet this weekend," Hinata suggested. "We could probably find some stuff for cheap. I don't know what I would need, but I'll talk to Neji about it."_

_"This almost sounds like we're making High School Resolutions," Sakura pointed out._

_"Nah, we'll call it... Doing Something Productive for the Future.. Resolutions."_

_"That's great and all, but how is any of it productive?"_

_Hinata thought about it for a moment. "Because it's a hobby that doesn't involve the television? Oh, how we're being productive by learning something new?"_

_"Don't kill yourself over it."_

_"I'm being serious."_

_"I know, I know," Sakura told her while sliding off the bed and started in the direction of her closet. "Which is fine with me, it's not like it's gonna be anything big or anything. Wanna go check it out no- Ow! Sonuvabitch!"_

_"What happened?!" Hinata exclaimed, worry evident in her tone._

_Sakura made a face and reached for her foot. "Ow..." She brought the needle up for Hinata to see. "I found the needle."_

**XXX**

A/N: Ah.. Back Steps. Let me explain. Back Steps are short glimpses of the past so that we may understand what is going on in the present. Not all of them will be as pointless as this, majority of them will most likely take place at the mall, depicting what went on in the five to six months between the end of Mall Romance and the beginning of this one. I'll go into other character's past lives so everyone can kind of get where everyone's at and a better profile. It's like a different version of the drabble between chapters. I also prefer it this way as opposed to writing out long needless paragraphs for explanations. I don't like doing those.


	5. Back Step 2

**XXX****  
Back Step Two****  
XXX**

_"Oi, Naruto's coming this way."_

_Hinata turned her head to where Sakura was gesturing towards. She then looked back at Sakura who was already making for the door leading to the back of the restaurant._

_"Where're you going?" Hinata asked excitedly._

_"Gonna get stuff so we can restock," Sakura answered, disappearing through the portal right afterwards._

_"But we just did!" Hinata tried to call out, but knew it was useless. She attempted to calm herself down so that she wouldn't condemn herself for being too foolish._

_"Hey, Hinata!"_

_The dark haired girl slowly walked up to the are of the counter Naruto had decided to lean against. With him was someone else that she hadn't seen before, but with the way he was dressed, assumed it was a co-worker._

_"Hi," she greeted with a small smile. "S-stopping by for something to eat?"_

_"Nah, nothing like that," he replied. "Ah, Hinata, this is Sasuke." Naruto waved off to the side of his companion._

_"Pleased to meet you," she adressed the other male._

_"Likewise," was all he said._

_"He's the piano guy," Naruto told her._

_Hinata tilted her head slightly. "Piano guy?"_

_"Behind the escalators in Winsters, there's a piano," explained Naruto. "He plays it."_

_"For the whole day?" she asked Sasuke._

_"For the most part," he shrugged. "Anyway, we came by for a reason."_

_"Oh yeah!" Naruto exclaimed. "The store's still looking for you guys. I don't know how, but someone's said that they've seen Sakura around, that blonde girl too, what's her name."_

_"Ino?"  
_

_"Yeah, her."_

_"W-what about me?" Hinata asked, just so that she would know if they wre all on the same page of trouble._

_"No one's recognized you so far," Naruto told her._

_"But why?" she was asking herself more than him._

_"He broke into the security and rewound the cameras," Sasuke answered her question. "They recorded over themselves so that any close up of your face would be lost."_

_Hinata turned to Naruto wide-eyed. "Why?"_

_Naruto shrugged. "I don't really know the whole story, but I've dealt with the people around there so I know they like to start crap for no good reason. I mean, other than to save their own asses for something they screwed over. I'm pretty sure you guys had a good reason to pull what you did."_

_"Well. I-It's kind of a long st-story," she replied with down casted eyes._

_"What time do you get off today?" Naruto asked suddenly._

_"Soon. A-at four-thirty," she answered quietly, wondering what he was getting at._

_"And Sakura?"_

_"S-seven."_

_"You guys should totally come by for our show," Naruto told her and handed her a folded up flyer from the inside of his jacket. "It's over in Hollywood, an underground thing."_

_Hinata took the paper from him and unfolded it, scanning over the leaflet. "You have a-a band?"_

_Naruto smiled. "And that's what it's called too. Pretty clever, huh?"_

_"That's only because you couldn't think of an actual name," Sasuke put in._

_"I didn't see you trying any harder," Naruto growled._

_"You're in it too?" Hinata questioned Sasuke a second time._

_"Bandmate, roommate, co-worker," Naruto answered for him. "I can't get away from him."_

_"He plays a different tune though whenever he needs something," said Sasuke to Hinata._

_"Oh, like you're any different," Naruto threw at him._

_Hinata laughed a little behind her hand. Naruto refocused his attention back on her._

_"So will you come?" he pestered._

_Hinata bit at her bottom lip and gave him a solitary nod. "I'll get ev-everyone else too come t-too."_

_"People are starting to line up," Sasuke warned, taking up Naruto arm and making for them to leave the girl alone already and get back to work.._

_"I'll see you guys there then," Naruto called out to her while being dragged away. "All the info's on the flyer!"_

_Hinata waved goodbye to them while simultaneously serving those that had started to gather around the front of the restaurant. Sakura came out a few moments later (empty handed) and took up her post. A good ten minutes passed before they were able to talk freely again._

_"Ivan's gonna come out to count you out already," Sakura told her. "What'd I miss?"_

_"Naruto invited us to a concert," she told her pulling a crumpled piece of paper from her pants pocket and handed it over to the pinkette. "Or something like that."_

_Sakura took the flyer and looked it over with mild interest. "We got to go to this."_

_"You want to?" Hinata asked her._

_"Yeah. I haven't been to a show like this since school. It'd be nice." She handed it back to Hinata. "We gotta drag Ino out too."_

_"You shouldn't stay out too late though," Hinata told her. "You have to come in tomorrow." _

"I close tomorrow," the pinkette waved off. "I'll be fine." She let out a dreamy sigh. "Everything's going so well."

_Hinata's brow furrowed. "What do you mean."_

_"This whole you hooking up with him thing. It's only been three days since our mall adventure and already asking you out, it's awesome."_

_"He invited all of us," Hinata blushed._

_"Whatever you say, Hina. Are you gonna wait in the back for Ino to get off?"_

_"May as well, it's only a half hour later."_

_"Cool, 'cause when she comes by, I'm gonna get her to take you shopping. We gotta make you look your best."_

_Sakura merely laughed at Hinata widened eyes._

**XXX**

A/N: Back Steps I should mention, are in no chronological order. Just so ya know. This one was pretty short, so I figured to just put it up with the last and make up for it. Lol, let me know if it did any good. (^^)


	6. Step 4

**XXX****  
Step 4****  
XXX**

Hinata fell backwards onto the hardwood with complete lack of grace. It was by no means accidental, she allowed herself to plop herself directly on the floor boards out of sheer exhaustion. She had been on her feet all day, going from teaching children in beginners, to her own set of advanced classes in order to help her progress further, and then to now, in one of the vacant studio rooms meant for rehearsals and practices.

The only time she would leave the establishment was for lunch, and even that involved her being on her feet the entire time. It was like this all week.

Her clothing was starting to stick to her body, her hair was beginning to matte to her scalp from working up a sweat, and her feet were almost throbbing within the confines of her shoes. She lifted her knees to her chest and rested her head onto of them, closing her eyes and relishing in resting if only for a short period of time.

"Here."

She opened her eyes and raised her head. She was greeted by the kind dimpled-face of her former dance partner holding a water bottle out to her.

"You look tired," he commented. "Do you wanna call it a day?"

Hinata gently smiled up to him and shook her head, taking the bottle offered to her all the while. "I'm fine," she assured him. "It's only been one week, I'll get used to it."

Cecil moved to sit next to her on the floor while she twisted the cap off of the plastic bottle and took a small swig of water.

"So how long's the teaching gig for?" he asked her, bringing a bottle of his own to his lips.

"For the rest of the summer at least," she answered, replacing the cap and putting the bottle down beside her. "If I do a good job, they'll let me teach year-round to kids like us."

He raised an eyebrow. "Kids like us?"

Hinata nodded happily. "Those striving for the top. The really serious ones. Right now, I'm just dealing with those that show some interest, but none of them are particularly devoted."

"Makes you wonder how this school got such a rep then," Cecil chuckled. "If they just let anyone in."

"It's a summer program," Hinata reminded him. "They're not students. The school isn't backing them up with anything like they do us."

To that Cecil merely shrugged and drank some more water from his bottle, leaving them in some sort of silence that was awkward but not very comfortable at the same time. During which Hinata allowed herself to study him, pondering mainly on the reason why he would have been so accepting to the fact that Neji didn't want them dancing professionally together anymore.

"Is.. Is it alright if I ask you something?" she asked him quietly.

"You kind of just did," he replied with grin. "But sure, go ahead."

"I just.." she began and faltered slightly. "I'm sorry if I'm prying too much, but I just um.. I wanted to know why. I mean, why did you want to dance?"

"Is that all?" Cecil laughed.

"It's actually kind of a pathetic reason," he said after his laughter died down.

Cecil stood up and and walked across the room towards their bags, crouching through his own and brought his wallet out. He then went back and took his seat next to Hinata. He flipped it opened and pulled out a photo.

"Tha's my sister," he said, handing the picture over to Hinata. "My twin sister, I have a lot of them. But anyway, she wanted to be a dancer. Not a ballroom dancer but I never did have rhythm for any of that hip hop crap she liked so damn much, so I chose a different form. I guess, I kinda did it for her. Couldn't let an unrealized dream go."

He plucked the photo from between her fingers and placed it back into the confines of his wallet.

"But yeah," he said afterwards. "It's also the reason why I'm quitting."

Hinata turned to him wide eyed. "You're quitting? Is it because of Neji not wanting me to be your partner anymore?"

"No," he shook his head. "Well, yeah, kinda. I mean, after we had that conversation, that when I started thinking about all of it. I realized that, it's just... It's not the right thing for me to do."

Hinata's brows furrowed slightly. "I don't understand."

He smiled slightly. "Tell me, Hinata. Why are you striving so hard?"

Hinata lowered her head again and bit her lip. "I.. want to evolve."

She dropped her knees from her chest and turned herself to him with a sort of embarrassed smile. "Well, what I mean, is... Well, you see, I started dancing when I was thirteen. You know that already, I did a summer program, but it wasn't here, it was at the community center. I did that and then I didn't take it up again, until after I turned fourteen for the spring session.

"Anyway, when I was a sophmore, my English teacher, he was explaining this short story that we had read. Basically, he used an ugly duckling sort of metaphor. It was how all of us were still ducklings, because of our position in society, how unless we strive for higher, we'll remain that way. In a way he was also tyring to convince a lot of us to go to college because he went on to say that those that do evolve into the swans that are waited on by the ducklings that didn't try."

"That kind of sounds offending," Cecil commented.

"It was," she agreed. "A lot more than it should have been. Particularly after someone in the class came to the conclusion that he was insulting her parents. Since they didn't go to college or anything like that and they were just a blue collar family."

"Was he fired?"

"No, but he did watch what he said for the rest of the year. As far as I know...

"Even though it might have sounded offending or anything else they called it," she continued," it did get me thinking. It's not that I want to be waited on by anyone who didn't become what our society deems accomplished in their lives, and it's not as though there is anything wrong with a hard worker, but for some reason, I didn't want to be looked down on by people who thought they were better than me.

"That's why I do what I do. I don't have any particular skills, and I'm sure that I could be doing something my dad would find a little more productive, but this is what I love. I'm so elated while moving on that stage that I don't have to remember to smile, it's always there. I feel like I'm on top of the world, to put it in overused terms. So I use that to push myself so that I'm able to prove my worth, so that I can evolve from that ugly duckling that we all are."

"And therein lies the difference between you and me," stated Cecil. "You do this for yourself, where as I do this for a lingering memory that is better to leave behind." He his head to smile at her. "That's why I'm leaving, that's why I agreed to let you go. I need to move on from what happened so long ago, and if I keep in with this profession, I'm not going to be doing that. I wouldn't help you in going any further, not at all. In the end, I think I would just end up dragging us both down."

He shook his head. "I'm no good for you. Nah, Neji'll find someone better to replace me. Honestly though, I'm kinda surprised at how he took so long to finally want to replace me."

"Uh..." Hinata looked like she wasn't sure whether or not she wanted to say something to him. "Actually, that's because the one he wanted to replace you, TenTen already took for her own partner."

There was silence.

"Should I not have said anything?" she asked.

"When was that?" he asked in return.

She chewed at her bottom lip. "Three days after his accident."

Cecil was speechless for a few moments. "That... That was three years ago! That was when we just announced it!"

Hinata didn't reply, she just drank some more water from her bottle.

"So he never like me," the boy sighed. "Well that kinda just threw my confidence down the crapper."

"If it makes you feel better," Hinata began, "he's said that you've gotten a lot better."

"It doesn't."

"I didn't think it would."

Cecil stood up and stretched himself out. "You want to start something before your cousin shows up and started scolding us for not doing anything. Even though he's pretty late himself."

"I suppose so," Hinata replied, standing up herself. "He wants me to be involved more with the federation rather just the school by the end of summer. I'd hate to see how long he'd hold something like resting over my head."

"Was that a joke?"

"In a way."

"Tyrant."

"He wants to help."

"However you want to look at it..."

Hinata had made her way over to her bag and after setting her half empty water bottle by it, pulled out a scrunchy and picked her hair up.

"You know how we have modified steps?" she asked out of the blue.

Cecil looked over at her. "What d'you mean?"

"Just that. The steps we dance, they're modified. Like the latin dances, they're not the actual dances. I mean, they're not the way they're supposed to be danced. Like Samba. What we do is not really Samba. Have you ever wanted to learn the right way to dance it?"

"You're not going _Strictly Ballroom_ on us are you?"

Hinata laughed at the comment. "No, nothing like that. But I was watching YouTube clips and saw a lot of comments on it, so I thought I'd ask you."

"Why were you watching YouTube clips?" he asked.

"I was bored," she shrugged.

"Whatever," he grinned. "What d'you wanna go through first?"

"Samba."

He laughed.

While they prepared themselves and went over new things they had learned, just outside the room, be the doorway, was Neji himself. Normally, he wouldn't have stopped himself from going into the room while they were conversing and get on with what they had planned for the day, but after catching the beginning of Hinata's explanation to her former partner, he wanted to hear the rest of it.

Truth be told, Neji didn't really understand why Hinata pushed herself so much to become professional. Just like he neve rdid, she didn't share her reasons with him. Now he had a slight comprehension as to what motivated her, but even with the story she relayed, he knew that her way of expanding certain details in an explanation was just her way of distracting one she was telling from the bigger picture.

There was something else, he knew, but he also knew that she probably wouldn't tell. Which was fine with him, he felt no need to pry. The only obligation he had was in her success, and with her being without a partner, that was the first problem he would have to remedy.

So instead of barging in and letting the two inside the room know of his presence, he turned himself around and went to make a phone call.

**XXX**

A/N: Another chapter late again, sorry. Work related stuff that cut my free time, I won't get too into it. Anyway, was this just a filler chapter? Yeah, it kinda was... I had written a back step for Hinata about how she ended up wanting to become a pro, but then I realized, I kinda didn't know how to progress the story further, so I did this. Eavesdropping Neji, what's he planning? And is it odd that I have TenTen being her rival in this one and her BFF in an other? Lol, I twist Ten's character so much.

Anyway, I'll be replying to reviews tomorrow, 'cause right now I have to get to work, and later on I don't know what I'll be doing. Preparations for summer events are killer, but at least I don't have to worry about my hollow mask anymore.(^^) I didn't want to go to AX as Ukwee, but I don't think I'd have enough money or time for a Legendary Girl A cosplay. Kudos to anyone who knows who I'm talking about.


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